Last fall, you may have heard about LA25, an initiative we launched in 25 of our Los Angeles Target stores. Its goal? Pull together a bunch of the enhancements and updates happening in departments across our stores and put them all together in one experience, to see how they impact sales and the guest experience. The tests are designed with our signature categories, like style and wellness, in mind, along with some of our new and updated services. The latest group of updates are popping up in stores throughout May.
“At Target, we're always looking for ways to create an exceptional shopping experience for guests,” says Mark Schindele, senior vice president, Target Properties. “Our teams are learning a lot from LA25, and we’re excited to see how these newest enhancements fit into the mix.” Take a look at the some of the newly unveiled updates:
The front of our stores is the first thing guests see as they walk in, so it’s the perfect spot to showcase some of our latest product. Style is front and center, featuring the latest trends in apparel or home items, and the display will transition about every eight weeks. We’re also incorporating locally and seasonally relevant products, like beach chairs and coolers for summer, in an easy-to-spot area right up front.
We’ll continue featuring Bullseye’s Playground, which we updated from The One Spot last fall, because we know our guests love the exceptional value they find there.
We’ve updated the Guest Service counter to feel fresh and inviting, with plenty of storage space and user-friendly signs to make the Order Pickup experience quick and seamless. We’re also introducing Service Advisors—team members dedicated to walking the sales floor helping guests with anything they need, like finding an item, exploring Target.com-only products or downloading the Cartwheel app.
To give our guests more of the better-for-you food options they crave, we’re testing three new food vendors—Freshii, Which Wich? and Pizza Hut Artisan—for our front-of-store cafés. And since Starbucks is still a favorite stop on guests’ Target runs, we’ve added Starbucks Cafés to all LA25 stores that didn’t have one yet, and remodeled existing ones with new fixtures and seating.
We’re testing several changes to the Women’s Apparel and Accessories departments that refine the shopping experience. For example, C9 Champion, our exclusive brand of activewear, shoes and accessories, got a major refresh including a new, easy-to-navigate presentation with more space and updated fixtures, signing and mannequins. We’ve also added LED track and valance lighting here (and throughout the entire store) to better highlight the product.
We’re trying out new ways to display products and offer guests samples in the Grocery to create a more inspiring experience. The new look features woodgrain signs overhead and updated shelves with a black and grey color scheme. We’re also using more space to cross-merchandise products normally located in separate aisles—say, grilling must-haves like ketchup, mustard and hot dog buns—making it easy for families to round up all the products they need to create easy and delicious meals. Additionally, we’ve updated our lighting, flooring and signage in the fresh market area, and added new bins to help enhance the produce presentation for our guests.
By updating our signs, interactive displays and other visuals, we’ve created a space in our Toys aisles that draws parents and kids in and invites them to find, explore and get hands-on with their favorite brands and products—from Barbie to LEGO to the mega-popular Star Wars franchise.
We know guests like to research their options before buying big-ticket items like patio décor and furniture, so in our LA25 stores, we’ll showcase display-only Patio products available at Target.com, along with clear, intuitive signage that helps guests easily order the products from our full assortment online. We tested this concept in Denver in 2015 and saw solid results, so we’re expanding it for our LA guests. Remember those Service Advisors we talked about before? They can help answer questions and help guests use our technology to place their orders.
We’ve reimagined the Home department, curating products in lifestyle vignettes like you’d see in specialty stores. For example, guests might find a set dinner table with plates, napkins, lighting and chair covers, all in one place. The vignettes inspire guests to mix, match and shop everything they need for a certain area of their home without having to visit different sections of the store. Just like in Patio, some of the furniture on display is only available on Target.com, with clear signage and instructions for ordering and shipping exactly what the guests needs.
Many locally produced products and brands have a loyal following with our guests, so we’re adding more of them to our mix, and putting them in the spotlight on endcaps and other featured spaces. Here, guests will find several beloved LA brands, including Jones County Road grooming supplies, snack confections from Zlicious, and a jewelry collection by artist Michelle Chang.
“In the coming months," Mark says, "we’ll continue to watch and learn as our guests dig in and experience these latest updates, and we’ll use the feedback to make our next store prototype and new store formats even better.”
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